Candelabra

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The first known use of candelabra in English was in 1776,{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candelabra |title=Candelabra |work=Merriam-Webster }} and candelabrum in 1811.{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candelabrum |title=candelabrum |work=Merriam-Webster }} The word is originally Latin, where candēlābrum (candela, candle, -b(a) rum, holder) means a "candlestick”, ultimately deriving from candēla, meaning "candle". Candēlābrum is the singular form and candēlābra is the plural.

While candelabra is the correct plural form of candelabrum, due to changes in English usage over time, candelabra is now popularly used as the singular form, with candelabras the supposed plural form.{{cite web |title=Word of the Day: candelabra |url=https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/candelabra |website=Macmillan Dictionary |access-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190618235832/https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/candelabra |archive-date=18 June 2019}} "Candelabrums" is also sometimes seen for the same reasons.

Candelabra is a form of candlestick; candlestick is defined as an object that holds a candle,{{cite news |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/candlestick |title=Candlestick |work=Cambridge Dictionary }}{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candlestick |title=Candlestick |work=Merriam Webster }} and candelabra can be defined as a branched holder that supports multiple candles.{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/candelabra |title=Candelabra |work=Collins Dictionary }} "Candelabra" has been used to describe all branched candle holders, including chandeliers. The distinction between a candelabrum and a chandelier is that the candelabrum is a candle holder placed on a surface, while the chandelier is hung from the ceiling.

File:Menorah (Arc de Titus, Rome).jpg in Rome]]

Candelabra were known to have been used in the ancient world. A notable example is the seven-armed candelabrum or menorah, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible with instruction on its creation to Moses.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TOI9oLkEHdoC&pg=PA121 |title=The Menorah, the Ancient Seven-armed Candelabrum: Origin, Form, and Significance |publisher=Brill |first=Racḥel |last=Ḥa̱chlili |pages=7–9 |date=2001|isbn=90-04-12017-3 }} The menorah is depicted in the Arch of Titus following the capture of Jerusalem. It has since become a symbol of Judaism and an Emblem of Israel, as well as a model of seven-armed candelabra used in medieval Christian churches.{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=18}} A bronze candelabrum was made by Callimachus for the Erechtheion in Athens, to carry the lamp sacred to Athena. In this case it is possible the lamp was suspended.

While "candelabrum" is now often used to mean a branched candle holder, the term has been used to describe a variety of lighting objects. A candelabrum may describe a tall stand that supports a lamp.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0zbmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 |title=The Life in Ancient Times: Discoveries of Pompeii, Ancient Greece, Babylon & Assyria|first1= T. L. |last1=Haines|first2= L. W.|last2= Yaggy |publisher=Good Press |date=2023}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=waSKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA215 |title=A Guide to the Exhibition Illustrating Greek and Roman Life|publisher= British Museum|author= Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities |date=2022 |pages=215–216}} The Roman candelabra may consist of a stalk or reed, the upper part moulded with projecting feature to carry lights at the top, and a base resting on three lions' or griffins' feet. The origin of the term, which means a candlestick, suggests that Roman candelabra may have a disk with a spike on top to carry a wax or tallow candle ({{lang|la|candela}} or {{lang|la|funalia}}). Candelabra, however, can have a disk at the top to carry a lamp, and sometimes there was a hollow cup, in which resinous woods were burnt.

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| image1 = Candelabro Barberini, Inv. 551, prima metà del II sec. d.C., da Villa Adriana -FG.jpg

| caption1 = Barberini candelabrum in the Vatican Museums

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| image2=Bronze candelabrum MET DP250501.jpg

| caption2=Etruscan candelabrum {{circa}} 550 B.C

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The Roman candelabra used in public building can be of significant size, and they may have bulky supports in stone or marble, of which many examples were found in the {{lang|la|thermae}}. These consists of a base, often triangular, a shaft either richly moulded or carved with the acanthus plant and crowned with a large cup or basin with similar design to the small sacrificial altars. Examples of the latter excavated from Hadrian's Villa are now found in the Vatican Museums.{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Candelabrum|volume=5|page=177}} Simpler tall slender candelabra with three feet were used in a domestic setting in the Etruscan and Roman periods. These may be made of wood, but many made of bronze were excavated in Herculaneum and Pompeii.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNVPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA191 |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities: Volume 1 |date=1842 |publisher=Taylor and Walton|pages=191–192}} Other types of candelabra also existed in the Roman period; these may consist of a figure supporting one or two branches with plates for lamps, or a type that may be placed on a table, with a pillar that has branches from which lights are suspended.

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The Roman examples seem to have served as models for many of the candelabra in the churches in Italy. Liturgical services were performed with the use of candlelight, and candelabra with prickets may be used to hold the candles in churches. In the 4th century, Pope Sylvester I presented to churches with brass candelabra inlaid with silver.{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalar00lubk/page/174/mode/2up|title=Ecclesiastical Art in Germany |first=Wilhelm |last=Lubke|author-link= Wilhelm Lübke|date= 1873|pages=171, 174 }} Seven-armed candelabra, mentioned in the Bible, may also be found in various churches, including the Eastern Orthodox Church.{{Cite book |last=Hapgood |first=Isabel |author-link=Isabel Hapgood |title=Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church |year=1975 |orig-year=1922 |edition=5th |page=xxx |place=Englewood NJ |publisher=Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese |isbn=978-148104918-4}} Candelabra may be used in some religious ceremonies.

File:Five-light candelabrum (one of a pair) MET DP154303.jpg

Candelabra in the form of branched candle holders were commonly found in religious buildings, but they were also used in the homes of the wealthy. Good wax candles were expensive in the early period and only the wealthy could afford them, while the cheaper tallow candles made of animal fat were smelly, smokey and burned quickly. Candle holders were therefore rare in ordinary households in the early period.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlKhCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA225 |title=Encyclopedia of Interior Design|date=1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781136787584 |editor=Joanna Banham |pages=225–226 }}

By the 17th century in France, candelabra was defined by César-Pierre Richelet as "a large room candlestick which has several branches", although candelabra existed in other forms.{{cite book |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dictionnaire_de_l%27ameublement_et_de_la_d%C3%A9coration_depuis_le_XIIIe_si%C3%A8cle_jusqu%27%C3%A0_nos_jours_(IA_dictionnairedela01hava).pdf |title=Dictionnaire de l'ameublement et de la décoration| volume =1 |pages=550–554| first= Henry |last=Havard |date= 1888 |publisher=Maison Quantin, compagnie générale d'impression et d'édition}} The candelabra may be placed on a fireplace mantel, table, guéridon, and torchère, or if large, on the floor. In England in the early 18th century, candelabra may be used interchangeably with a number of terms, such as branches, chandeliers, lustres, girandoles, and wall-lights.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSFFAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |title=Conservation and Restoration of Glass |first1= Sandra|last1= Davison|first2= R.G. |last2=Newton |date= 2008|page=69 |isbn=9781136415517|publisher=Taylor & Francis }} Girandoles were a form of candelabra with crystals in the 17th century, but were sold as candelabra in England by the end of the 18th century.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSFFAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |title=Conservation and Restoration of Glass |first1= Sandra|last1= Davison|first2= R.G. |last2=Newton |date= 2008|page=68 |isbn=9781136415517|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}

File:Kandelabrar, sengustavianskt Stockholmsarbete.jpg

In the 18th century, candelabra that are portable became more popular than sconces fixed onto the wall. Two-branched candelabra were then the most common, and some designs allowed the branches to be detached leaving a single-armed candlestick. By the 19th century, silver candelabra with multiple branches were often used together with elaborate centerpieces on dinner tables.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIdMik92xOMC&pg=PA498 |title=English, Irish, & Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute|first= Beth |last=Carver Wees |date= 1997 |pages=497–498 |publisher=Hudson Hills |isbn=9781555951177 }}

By the 20th century, electric light became the common form of lighting, which rendered the use of candle light non-essential. Candelabra, however, continued to be used, especially on formal occasions.{{cite web |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/state-dining-room-place-settings-for-state-dinner |title=State Dining Room Place Settings for State Dinner |work=The White House Historical Association }}

File:Sutro Tower from Grandview.jpg

In the United States and Canada,{{cn|date=April 2017}} the word candelabra is used to refer to radio masts and towers with multiple transmission antennas. Sutro Tower in San Francisco and John Hancock Center in Chicago are examples of such structures.{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=K. Blair |title=Television engineering handbook |date=1986 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0070047790 |page=8.11 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/televisionengine0000unse_p2o5/page/n319/mode/2up?q=candelabra |chapter=8.1.6. Candelabras}} Baltimore's TV stations, WMAR-TV, WBAL-TV, and WJZ-TV in 1959 built the world’s first three-antenna candelabra tower, 730 feet tall. Other examples include the Mount Royal Candelabra in Montreal, the KXTV/KOVR/KCRA Tower, KSMO Candelabra Tower, KMBC/KCWE Candelabra Tower, the Madison Community Candelabra Tower in Madison.

File:Candélabres.jpg|Crystal candelabrum from Portieux

File:Boda en Casapueblo - Wedding Planner Uruguay.JPG|A modern candelabrum used decoratively at a wedding in the Casa Pueblo historic building in Uruguay

File:Candelabrum (one of a pair) MET DP-12374-040.jpg|Porcelain candelabra

File:Candelabrum (one of a pair) MET ES4714.jpg|A five-armed candelabrum

File:Exposition Baccarat au Petit Palais à Paris, november 2014 003.jpg|Baccarat glass candelabrum

File:Johann Joachim Kändler - Candelabras with Parrots - 1938.305 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Candelabrum with Meissen porcelain parrot

File:Tenebrario Colonial.jpg|Tenebrae candelabrum

File:Providenzkirche HD Opferlichter.JPG|Votive candle rack that resembles a candelabra in a church in Germany

Nummen kirkko, kynttelikko, oikea-trimmed.jpg|Candelabra in Finrland

File:Hungarian Jewish Museum, Menorah.jpg|A hanukiah

File:IMG 6849 - Duomo - Menorah Trivulzio - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 3-Mar-2007.jpg|Trivulzio Candelabrum

• Candlestick
• Chandelier
• Menorah
• Girandole
• Torchère
• Paracas Candelabra
• Charlottenburg Candelabra a pair of ornamental colonnades in west Berlin with a passing resemblance to candelabra

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• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLGFAAAACAAJ |title=Metal Candlesticks: History, Styles and Techniques|first= Veronika |last=Baur |date= 1996|isbn=9780764301568 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing }}

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Category:Antennas

Category:Candles

Category:Lighting